Digoxin Toxicity

Digoxin toxicity has always been a major problem, due to the narrow range separating medically-effective digoxin levels from toxic levels of the drug. Now, with the recent mislabeling and mispackaging of digoxin that led to people being given digoxin doses equivalent to twice their prescribed dosage, and the subsequent recall, many people are concerned with digoxin toxicity.

Diagnosing Digoxin Toxicity

Digoxin toxicity is responsible for many nonspecific symptoms, making it very difficult to diagnose.These symptoms include:

·Visual changes, such as halos, unfocused vision, changes in color vision, even hallucinations

·Lethargy or drowsiness

·Confusion or euphoria

·Headaches

·Nausea and vomiting

·Diarrhea

·Abdominal pain

Toxicity can take minutes or hours to become evident.Acute toxicity generally manifests itself with nausea, vomiting, and lethargy, while chronic toxicity is usually signaled by visual changes, but can be very difficult to diagnose.The only way to actually diagnose digoxin toxicity is with blood tests.

Influences on Toxicity Levels

Unfortunately, digoxin can often be made more toxic by other factors in your body.This includes:

oAntibiotics such as tetracycline that inactivate bacteria that can inactivate digoxin

These risk factors can dramatically affect the level of digoxin in your bloodstream, making it more likely that you will suffer digoxin toxicity with a lower dose.

Digoxin Resilience

In addition to digoxin’s narrow therapeutic range and its susceptibility to other factors in your body, another element that makes digoxin toxicity so dangerous is that digoxin tends to stay in your body for a long period of time after your toxic exposure.

Digoxin has what is known as a relatively long biological half-life.Biological half-life is the amount of time it takes for a drug or other substance in your body to lose half of its effect.This depends on the volume of blood in your body and the ability of your kidneys to filter the drug from your bloodstream.A normal half-life for digoxin ranges from 24-36 hours in a person with healthy kidneys.

However, because you were prescribed digoxin for regulating a dangerous heart condition, you cannot simply stop the medication once you realize you may have received twice your dosage, or you will experience a period in which you are exposed to the even greater danger of your heart condition.Instead, you will have to take your digoxin at the lower dosage and allow your body to stabilize the level of the drug in your blood, which usually takes about 4.7 times the biological half-life, or a week or more.

In addition, because chronic digoxin toxicity is difficult to diagnose, and occurs frequently without being detected, you may have been suffering from digoxin toxicity for a long time, but only detected it as a result of the Actavis error.In this case, you will need to be evaluated for chronic toxicity, and it may take much longer for your digoxin levels to regulate.

Digoxin can cause lung problems. My husband has heart failure and kidney failure but he almost died from lung failure and after a month in ICU a nephrologist made the connection. Upon stopping the Digoxin my husband recovered within 3 days.

i had open heart surgery 2001, because I was born with two buckles in my heart. And I also had a irregular heart before and after the surgery. I was on digoxin,then digitek an nw back on digoxin. Is the digoxin safe or not. Please let me know my heart doctor has not taken me off. So, I’m sure if it was not he would have taken me off.

i had open heart surgery 2001, because I was born with two buckles in my heart. And I also had a irregular heart before and after the surgery. I was on digoxin,then digitek an nw back on digoxin. Is the digoxin safe or not. Please let me know my heart doctor has not taken me off. So, I’m sure if it was not he would have taken me off.

i had open heart surgery 2001, because I was born with two buckles in my heart. And I also had a irregular heart before and after the surgery. I was on digoxin,then digitek an nw back on digoxin. Is the digoxin safe or not. Please let me know my heart doctor has not taken me off. So, I’m sure if it was not he would have taken me off.

I was recently put on Digitek for my heart .However I have had some reactions to it that made me wonder why would anyone be put on an medicine that caused the reactions I had. My skin smelled like it was burning, I was seeing halos in my eyes.I caused me to have sharp shooting pains in my head.

My throat felt like it was closing up on me .I stopped taking it, No sooner I did. I had an overwhelming feeling that I was going to paas out…I felt confused not sure of myself…

My Mother was put on Digoxin in ICU as her heart rate was dangerously high. That was in March….She was moved to a rehab nursing home to get her strength back but…..She had all the side effects listed above, drowsiness, vomiting, confusion, etc. She lost 20 lbs in 1 month and was then at a toxic level of digoxin. The Doctor was call and he started the weaning phase. After 4 days of watching her sleep all day and not eat ANYTHING she was starting to come out of the funk. Her heart rate has remained normal and she seems to be alive again. Her strength is still not good as she can’t walk alone, she is now in a wheelchair for how long? we dont know…6 months ago my MOTHER was living at home, driving to the mall for coffee with friends and now is mostly bed ridden. My Mom is 85 years old.

My mother was given digoxin. She didn’t have a heart problem. The hospital said her heart rate was very fast so that is why they gave her digoxin. She had become unresponsive not long after they began to give her the medicine intravenously. She had only 1 kidney. We would never have figured it out if it weren’t for 1 nurse that ordered tests and discovered the problem. My mother died. I cannot get anyone to do anything about this. My mother was still on the planning commision where she lived. She was 84.

my mother has been on digoxin for 6 weeks. She has heen having bad hallucinations from this for 4 weeks. Dr. took her off at once. She is still hallucinating bad. Dr said it is her not the mediction. It is her. Need any output you can give. Thanks!.

My mom has been on digoxin for 6 weeks. Having hallucinations for 4 weeks When I called the Dr. he took her off it right away, but said it wasnt the medication giving her hallucination it was her. It is driving her crazy. How long will this take to get out of her system.?

my dad was put on Digoxin about 5 weeks ago, having hallucinations, heart rate as low as 33. Called the paramedics he was so out of it he refused, even with the fact he couldn’t hardly walk now, he had just been released from physical therapy doing great and now he is laying in I C U getting a central line put in to help combat the effects of toxicity. this drug needs to be black labeled permanently.

I had an episode of Supraventricular Tachycardia, paroxysmal and the Dr. put me on Digoxin. Aug. 15th, 2011, but I feel terrible, with SEVERE constipation, flu-like symptoms, Brainfog, nausea, headache, very weak especially in the knees and still have Arrhythmia with pounding heart beat. this makes me so depressed, I can hardly function. I want to quit. Before Digoxin they gave me Diltiazem, and before that they tried Metoprolol. I could not take both of these because of severe side effects with dizziness and lightheaded etc. I don’t know what to do. If I quit the Digoxin, can I die? Which is better, to live in misery and sick feeling or to stop the medication and take a chance of dying????? P.S. I have an Intra-atrial aneurhysm and Mitral Valve Prolapse.

My mom just got out of the hospital due to having digoxin toxicity. Her doctor is not taking responsibility for this and is trying to blaim my mom. My mom has the blurred vision lost 20 pounds in a week and has confusion and had 4 falls and dizzyness. Who can i call to find out more? My mom was taking twice the level due to mislabel.

Social Security Heart Dr in Harrisson Arkansas put me on tred mill to see if i really had tackacadia my heart rate went from 112 after 6 min on T MILL to 258 beats per min allmost killed me they thought i was just trying to get S S Dis well to end this comment the Dr from Harrison Arkansas put me Digoxin have stoped taking it can not stand to live like this am showing all side effects and will deal with my tackacadia in a different way Health food vitamins anyone know the allterative e mail me

my girlfriend-like a sister-was on this when they mislabled it. i had been taking care of her for 3 years because she had gotten a bedsore fronm the hospital she was in. she had ms however i got her bedsore on her tailbone healed up from 6 by 6 to a little indent that my little finger could not fit in -she was at mayo-and all she wanted to do was come home i worked 24-7 with her. she always felt tired and sick to her stomach,weak, and she seemed to not spring back-one day she called the police and told them she wanted to kill herself- i didnt understand her-then she called the police again and said she wanted to die or kill herself so she wouldnt have to go into a nursing homshe was sayin crazy things- i had been taking care of her from january of 2005 to june of 2008-at this time the social worker was called in and accused meof neglect,abandoning her, abuse, taking her money, because in thereses mind i had done this and she was telling them at mayo that i had done this.i loved her and i know she would of done this for me, but they took her away from me ,took away my poa so i couldnt find out anything on her, and treated me like something awful and uncaring. everyone knew what i did for her,but they never asked anyone in her apartment building or my friends. she was only 59 had ms and a took the medicine for her heart- i did not realize there was a problem with the medicine until i got the letter in the mail-then i saw an ad for an attorney for the medicine, the side effects and i realized what was going on with her. i still have her full medicine bottle-her family put her in a nursing home and then in a group home-from-in december 5 2009 she died. in march of 2009 i had a stroke from all the stress. i think the family still believed i was this evil , rotten cruel person, so they never called me back- i was crushed, and finally gave up the battle-however it will stay on my record for 7 years and the town i lived in the shame of being accused of this was intolerable. i wish this company was held accoutable for their mistake and undo my false accusations-e had come so far and then have it all blown away-i dont blame therese because the things she told them i knew she didnt mean-because i tried to make her life as fun as i could and as comfortable-it was hard but i would do it for her again-

Since late 2007 my cardiologist placed me on Digoxin .125 once daily. This happened when he decided to take me out of Amiodarone. No particular problems until 5/15/2012 when a prescription refill was sent by fax to our local Walgreen Drug Store, with a possible error in the dosage, instead of the regular .125 it was increased to .25. Last Friday afternoon from the field of vision globes like figures in bright yellow, green and rose, starting coming out going to the left and elevating to the ceiling. Furthermore, I started experiencing very strong headaches I n the area of the right frontal lobe, in the right eye, right cheek, and in the back of the head. They started to drive me crazy due to the intensity.
At first I thought it had something to do with a new prescription for hypotension “Midrodrine” 2.5 mg twice a day, in addition to the regular Metropolol Succinate 50 mg two times daily.
Saturday night and unable to keep with the Visual Auras (every 3 minutes for 3 minutes) and the terrible Migraine like headache, my husband called the Cardiologist and upon information provided by my husband, he called on the Pharmaceutical Supervisor of the Drug Store Chain to check for the prescription medicine and the dosage ordered in the records of the Drug Store.
I suspect a mistake was made by the Doctor’s office when fax was sent to the drug store with the new orders for Metropolol, Midodrine, and Digoxin. My Cardiologist called me back and instructed to immediately stop taking Digoxin .25 and to start drinking plenty of water, soups, etc. And not to go outside the house or perform regular physical routines to avoid dehydration. Tuesday we have to visit with him to take a Digoxin Level, and other tests. He called again yesterday to check on my condition and again insisted that I continue taking plenty water; he also informed that Digoxin is eliminated from the system in 36 to 48 hours. Just to play it safe I have also stopped taking Midrodine for hypotension (because one side effect can be migraine like headaches) instead I have resorted to the old practice of having a bottle of Coke/Pepsi or any cola soda in the frig; and if an episode of dizziness or fainting like spell due to hypotension takes place then my family will give me a glass of Coca Cola and raise my legs above the heart and this had worked great in the past when I started suffering from hypotension.

is the recall toxicity issue going still into 2012? since she’s been on it mom has been increasingly having hallucinations accompanied w/agitation and aggression. when i remove it after several days, the agitation and aggression goes away, but the hallucina is still there but reduced. it’s not true that blood is only place of toxicity it also stays in tissues for a while and so patient suffers after that. please advise how i can find alternative.